Yesterday we went for a walk around the village, met cousin Saw on her smallholding, and watched hers and a neighbours ‘long seed cow’ (how it sounds rather than how its written!) ‘rice washing machine’ which separates the rice from the kernels and stalks, running them into sacks to store and/or sell, with the brown ‘flour sifted for chicken feed or rice paste ( which is how it used to be eaten and coked before machines could break the rice grains out).

We visited the lovely, big local Wat and found Kammah’s cousin is a ‘big monk’ elsewhere and a poster was up with his picture on it. We saw the river that does flood at times, the village hall everyone uses, and the crematorium too.

Then we went searching for a wartime airfield in the area my friend heard about, and found it via a woman they asked in a local school who lived nearby. Her father knew everything about it and she tok us to meet him and he came round, showing us various sites related to the PoWs held in the area by Japanese, to build them the airstrip!!! Amazing stroke of luck to find her and him, and how lovely to share with us for a few hours, including taking us to his home where we shared photos, memories and questions. He too enjoyed it and seeing one of the prisoners there when he visited them as a child!! He got friendly with some of them, and clearly was curious, following their moves, events shared by his father like war updates etc.